


there's blood on my hands (don't make me be myself around you)

by blackrose1002, BlackVultures



Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Angst, Blood Drinking, Blow Jobs, First Kiss, First Time, Getting Together, Hand Jobs, Hurt/Comfort, Idiots in Love, M/M, Non-Consensual Blood Drinking, Vampire Turning, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-23
Updated: 2019-09-23
Packaged: 2020-10-27 00:29:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20751317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackrose1002/pseuds/blackrose1002, https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackVultures/pseuds/BlackVultures
Summary: There was a nagging emptiness in his stomach and an itch behind his lips, and Mac wondered how long he had been unconscious if he was this hungry. His hands started roaming over himself in a self-assessment, and everything was fine until he got to his neck… because his neck had scabs on it.Two scabs, like bite marks from fangs.The second he felt them with his fingers he froze, staring ahead with wide eyes. “No,” he whispered to himself as the realization dawned on him, and suddenly he knew exactly what had happened to him, and he felt like he was going to be sick.(Or the one where Mac gets turned into a vampire... and then Jack comes back home)





	there's blood on my hands (don't make me be myself around you)

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there! It's me and Sammy again!
> 
> So, a few words about this fic. This fic, the idea for this fic is what started it all. Months ago, in the beginning of our friendship, Sammy and I were talking about how this fandom needed more vampire fics. So I said I'd write it and then we started sharing ideas and suddenly we were like, "are we collabing?". But at that point I was in the middle of _ I Will Always Return_ and Sammy was writing her demons AU, so we kept pushing this project back. And then we had so many ideas and somehow the timing never felt right.
> 
> Until a while ago. We changed our original idea and here we are. We really hope you enjoy this as much as we enjoyed writing it. The title is from a song "Blood On My Hands" by The Used. I was the one to put it together and I didn't really read it through once I did that, so there are probably typos here. I'll fix them as soon as Sammy finds them, promise.
> 
> So, here we go. The fic that started it all.
> 
> **Disclaimer: No rabbits were actually harmed in the making of this fanfic.**

The first thing Mac became aware of… was the smell of the forest.

It didn’t make any sense, but his thoughts were too fuzzy to figure it out right now, so he focused on little things like opening his eyes. After blinking a few times he saw trees and green around him, so yeah, he was right, he was in the woods. He was… he didn’t feel well and he could instantly tell something was wrong, so he tried to remember what had happened.

Forcing his brain to work, he remembered Helman, Murdoc getting away… chasing him with his dad and then jumping from their armored vehicle right onto Murdoc’s truck. He had almost managed to attach the steel rope they had wanted to use to stop him when suddenly Murdoc had taken an abrupt turn, crashing the car… and then Mac didn’t remember anything.

The next thing he became aware of was the taste of blood in his mouth, but there was something… off about it. He wiped at his lips with the back of his hand and saw chunky, blackened streaks, not even the brown of dried blood, and when he prodded around in his mouth he didn’t feel any open wounds or loose teeth… so where had it come from? He sat up gingerly, backing himself into a tree for support, and patted his pockets – his wallet was there, but his cell phone was missing. There was a nagging emptiness in his stomach and an itch behind his lips, and Mac wondered how long he had been unconscious if he was this hungry. His hands started roaming over himself in a self-assessment, and everything was fine until he got to his neck… because his neck had scabs on it.

Two scabs, like bite marks from fangs.

The second he felt them with his fingers he froze, staring ahead with wide eyes. “No,” he whispered to himself as the realization dawned on him, and suddenly he knew exactly what had happened to him, and he felt like he was going to be sick. His vision started blurring with tears and he tried taking a few deep breaths to calm himself, but it wasn’t really working.

Because Murdoc had finally done what he had been threatening to do since they had crossed paths for the first time – he had turned him into a monster.

All at once, his new heightened senses showed themselves, and he smelled _every inch_ of the forest: the trees, the dirt, the grass… the animals. Same with his hearing and his vision, and suddenly he was painfully aware of a rabbit eating some clover about ten feet to his right… and to his left, about fifty feet away, some hikers on a trail that paralleled the highway. A sharp pain spiked through his stomach and he curled in on himself, muffling a sob. He had already been bitten, killed, and forced to drink the blood of his maker – if he didn’t drink living blood, and soon, he was going to die for real.

And a part of him wanted to.

His hands were shaking, but he clenched them in tight fists. He was even more aware of the hikers now and there was this sharp pain in his stomach again, but Mac just squeezes his eyes shut. He might have been a monster now, but he refused to make some innocent people pay the price for that. Through the fog clouding his mind, Mac wondered how long he had been unconscious and if the team was still somewhere nearby. They would all hate him when they found out, Mac was sure about that, but Desi… Desi would understand. And she would know what to do. She would also be able to smell him even though he was a… a vampire now, which should help them find him. He sniffed the air again, trying desperately to block out the scent of the hikers… and focused on the rabbit. He didn’t want to kill an animal any more than he wanted to hurt a person, but if he didn’t do something he would be a corpse by the time the others showed up. And as much as Mac hated the idea of being a vamp, he couldn’t just let Bozer or his dad find him cold and lifeless, not when he could do something about it. So he moved, blindingly quick, and let out a sob as he snapped the rabbit’s neck. His fangs emerged on their own, his mouth filling with saliva… and he bit down, blood pouring down his throat.

It felt… good, the sharp pain subsiding a little, and it instantly made Mac hate himself even more. He was disgusted with himself, but he kept drinking until there was nothing left and then he gently put the rabbit’s body away and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He knew the animal blood wouldn’t last him for as long as the human one would, but for now it was enough. He hoped Desi would have some blood on her as she always did, and god, he hoped… he hoped she would stop him if he lost control around the team.

Suddenly, Mac heard some voices nearby – no, they weren’t nearby, Mac corrected himself, his hearing was just that good. “Come on, where did he take him?” Mac heard Bozer’s worried voice and his heart dropped. He could hear Bozer’s heartbeat, strong and somehow familiar, and the he caught more of them – his dad and Riley, and a much, much slower pulse that belonged to Desi. Contrary to popular belief, vamps weren’t actually dead – they were alive, but barely, and they breathed and blinked just like humans, but slower.

He followed those sounds and all but collapsed on his knees when he reached their source. Then he felt his dad’s hands on his shoulders, frantically checking for injuries. “Angus! Are you…” he trailed off. “Oh god, Angus, did he…?”

“He did,” Desi confirmed grimly, and Mac heard her shifting around, and then she was holding a blood bag in front of his face. “Here, Mac. Drink this.”

Mac’s head snapped up and he stared at the blood bag, and he _wanted_ it… but suddenly he could also smell everyone, Bozer, Riley, his dad, he could hear their heartbeats and it was too much, he couldn’t handle that. He flinched away from James’s touch and flung himself back using his speed, backing up until his back hit the nearest tree. His hands were trembling again and he felt his fangs come out, and his eyes… he didn’t know how he knew, but he knew they were pitch black. “I can’t… I’m…” he whimpered, burying his face in his hands before looking up at Desi – he was too scared to look at anyone else. “_Help me_.”

“Back off,” Desi said to the others, not unkindly, and they did, albeit reluctantly. They were still close by, but the temptation to feed from them dropped considerably the further away they were. Desi dropped into a crouch next to him and popped the top on the blood bag, holding it out to Mac again. He blinked hard and got his eyes back to normal, then took the bag from her with shaking hands and started to suck on it. It didn’t taste very good cold and it was kind of sludgy, but it sated the burning in his belly. He was done with it before he even knew it and he forced his fangs to disappear – he was getting the hang of it, but it didn’t make him feel any better. He dropped the empty bag on the ground and ran his fingers through his hair, swallowing hard before glancing at Desi, who was watching him with a sympathetic look on her face. “You’re gonna feel better soon, I promise,” she said quietly, her voice surprisingly gentle – Mac had never heard her sound like that. She gently rubbed his shoulder as Mac wrapped his arms around himself, trying to make himself as small as possible, terrified to face the others.

They were alone for all of five minutes before James approached them. Desi rose and stood in front of Mac, evidently wary enough of James to not trust what his reaction to this news might be. “Let me see my son, Desi,” James said quietly, and Mac was surprised as hell to hear a note of pleading in his voice. She stared at him for a moment before nodding and letting him pass. His father dropped to his knees in front of Mac, and his heart… it wasn’t beating too fast or nervously, it was calm and regular. “Angus, please, look at me? I need to know that… that you’re okay.”

Mac made a small, wounded noise before he knew what he was doing. His dad didn’t seem scared, but that didn’t change the fact that he was probably disgusted with him and most likely hated him for being a monster. “No, I’m not okay,” Mac whispered, still not looking at James, too scared to see the disgust in his eyes. “I’m… I know you’re… I’m sorry.”

James made a small sound of his own, and the next thing Mac knew he was being tugged against his chest in a hug. “Angus, you have nothing to apologize for. When Murdoc ran the truck off the road I just about had a heart attack. And then when we found it, there was so much blood…” He shuddered a little. “I was afraid we were going to find a body… I’m just glad you’re still here.”

The smell of his dad hit Mac hard and he could hear his pulse thumping in his neck. The urge to feed on him was still there, but it wasn’t as strong as before, it was in the back of his head and it wasn’t that hard to ignore it for now. “But I’m not… me anymore,” Mac said quietly. “I’m… this. You should… why aren’t you scared of me? You should hate me.” Mac knew he did, but he wasn’t about to share that just yet.

James hugged him tighter when he heard that. “You’re my son. I could never hate you,” he whispered, and Mac felt tears streaming down his cheeks, but couldn’t bring himself to do anything about it. “I love you, Angus, even if I’ve never been good at showing it. And I’m not scared of you because you’d never hurt me. I know your control’s being tested right now, but I trust you, and so does everyone else.”

Mac found himself clinging to his dad, clutching his shirt in his fists. He found it hard to believe that the team still trusted him, _he _didn’t trust himself, so-

Suddenly, terror shot through him, because in that moment he realized that he had considered everyone’s reactions – Bozer, his dad, Riley, Desi, Leanna, Matty – but for some reason he hadn’t thought of one person, his mind probably too clouded. He instantly tensed, eyes snapping open, and his breath hitched. He could tell his dad had noticed, because he pulled back a little, watching Mac with a worried look on his face that Mac barely saw because… oh god, Jack was going to hate him.

“You’re thinking about Jack,” Riley said, and when Mac glanced up, he saw her and Bozer were both standing behind his father. She dropped into a crouch next to them and put her hand on Mac’s back – no hesitation, and again, no fear in her heartbeat. “He loves you, Mac. There’s no way this would bother him – I mean, he’s friends with Desi. Plus he’s a better person than that, you know he is.”

“You can’t tell him,” Mac whispered, the words out of his mouth before he could stop them. While it was true that Jack might have loved him – like a brother, not in the way Mac so desperately wanted Jack to love him – Mac didn’t think he felt this way anymore. Things had been… more tense between them after Mac had gotten back from Nigeria, and when Jack had left to hunt for Kovacs… he had said so himself. Mac was nothing more than a good friend to him. Jack being friends with Desi was also different – Desi was… Desi and Mac was a monster who hated himself, in his mind the distinction was clear. So with the things strained between them, Mac being like that… that was the last straw Jack would need to finally cut Mac out of his life once he was back. If he even came back at all. “You can’t tell him, please.”

Nobody looked thrilled at that prospect, but they were all evidently feeling sympathetic enough that they didn’t protest. “Whatever you want, Mac,” Bozer murmured, settling down on his other side.

They stayed like that for a while, three humans and two vampires huddled together in the woods.

Then eventually, somehow, Mac wound up back at his house, and Desi wordlessly invited herself to spend the night. She told him she would get him set up with regular deliveries from a local blood bank and she would help him with the forms for the government registration. Mac wanted to sleep more than anything, to forget this all had happened… but he only needed to rest for a few hours at a time, and then his eyes snapped open and he was awake again. He spent almost every night like that, sitting up on a couch or in a chair, working on experiments or reading. Every night… until the night Jack came back.

That night Mac was sitting out on the deck and reading. It had been six months since he had gotten turned and while he still didn’t think… too highly of himself, he had made his peace with it. Well, maybe not exactly – but he had learned to live with it, no longer wishing he had died in those woods.

Suddenly, Mac smelled and heard someone in the driveway. Their heartbeat was not anyone’s from the team – Mac had learned to recognize people by smell and their heartbeats – but somehow it was still familiar, almost soothing, and Mac was certain it had to be someone he knew. And then the smell hit him – leather, gunpowder, cologne – and Mac knew.

Before he even knew what he was doing, he was leaping of the deck chair and he was about to speed to the door, but in the very last second he remembered that he had to pretend to be human. So he ran at his human speed and yanked the door open – and there was Jack with his hand raised, about to ring the doorbell.

He looked… well, he looked like Jack, if a little worn-down and tired. He had a full-blown beard, not just stubble, and the fading remnants of a black circle around one of his eyes. He was holding his duffle bag in the hand that was down by his leg, and Mac had never been happier to see him. He threw his arms around Jack before the man could even get a greeting out, burying his face in his neck and inhaling that wonderfully familiar scent. There was an undercurrent of blood to it, of course, and he could hear Jack’s heartbeat – it had ratcheted up a little when Mac had hugged him, but now it was calming down again. “Hey, Jack,” he whispered, and he knew he had probably held on for too long by now, but he couldn’t make himself let go. He knew their relationship was… strained, but he also knew he was going to make it right, even if that meant concealing the fact that he was a vampire forever. “I missed you.”

Jack wrapped his arms around him and his heart beat faster again, but Mac didn’t think too much of it. “Mac,” Jack breathed out against his hair, holding him close. “God, I missed you too.” Mac swallowed hard, knowing Jack truly meant that. He might have been gone for a long time, but Mac still knew him and he could hear it in his voice. After a moment Jack pulled back, but it seemed like he was doing it reluctantly. He took Mac in, eyeing him up and down, and for a few terrifying seconds Mac thought Jack had figured it out. “I didn’t wake you?” Jack asked instead, frowning a little and taking in Mac’s appearance. While Mac was wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt, it was clear he hadn’t been asleep, not with how quickly he had gotten to the door before Jack had even rang the doorbell. “It’s the middle of the night, why weren’t you sleeping?” Jack asked, his voice concerned, and Mac almost melted – even though it’s been so long, Jack still cared.

“Had a nightmare, didn’t want to try for round two,” Mac said, and it was the truth… in a manner of speaking. He _had _had a nightmare during his three hours of sleep, one where he had ripped Jack’s throat out with his teeth while Murdoc had laughed in the background. But Jack would just think it was a bad dream about the Sandbox or a past mission, and that was fine.

He realized absently that they were still standing pretty close together and cleared his throat, taking a step back. “Here, come on in.” He turned on the lights in the living room and squeezed his eyes shut when they turned black as a reflex from the sudden brightness. He didn’t need lights to see at night, so he hardly used them anymore, but to keep up his act he would do anything. “Did you come straight here from the airport?” he asked, heading for the kitchen and the coffeemaker – it may have been the middle of the night, but he knew Jack probably wouldn’t sleep because of jetlag. He sniffed the air subtly, checking for blood where it shouldn’t be (outside Jack’s body). He didn’t smell any, but still, he asked, “Are you okay? Were you hurt or something?”

“Easy with the twenty questions, hoss,” Jack teased, and god, Mac had missed him _so much_. He followed him to the kitchen and right now it was almost like he had never left. “I’m just fine, a little banged up, but nothin’ serious,” Jack said with that easy grin Mac loved so much. Also, now that he was so close his smell was almost intoxicating and Mac couldn’t focus. He had always loved it whenever he had managed to get close to Jack, but now it was almost too intense and Mac just wanted to bury his nose in his neck and never let go. He also realized Jack’s blood also smelled amazing and he suddenly started wondering… how Jack’s blood would taste and not because he was hungry, oh no.

The second that thought popped in his mind, he shuddered and felt sick with himself, quickly shaking it out of his head. He had never drunk blood straight from a human and he wasn’t planning to, not ever, and that urge to sink his fangs into Jack’s neck while fucking him senseless needed to disappear from Mac’s head right now. “And yeah, I came here straight from the airport, I… I didn’t want to be stuck alone in my empty apartment, you know?” Jack’s voice brought him out of it, and Jack sounded… unsure.

Mac smiled at him in what he hoped was a reassuring way, and he thankfully felt his fangs retract back into his gums – they had dropped without him knowing it as he had thought about… things he shouldn’t have been thinking about with Jack, or anyone. But especially not Jack. “You’re more than welcome here, Jack, you know that,” Mac said, but then he paused… because maybe after everything that had happened Jack _didn’t_ know that. He took a half-step closer and put his hand on Jack’s shoulder. “Or maybe you don’t know that, but you should. I’m glad you’re here, Jack.”

“Thanks, man,” Jack said, his voice going back to normal, though his heart was still beating a bit faster. “I’m glad to be back, it’s been way too long.” Mac definitely agreed with that and once the coffee was done he handed Jack a mug before grabbing one himself. Contrary to what some people thought, vampires could eat human food just fine, it just didn’t have any nourishing values for them. But they could freely enjoy it which was a good thing if Mac wanted to hide being a vamp from Jack forever.

They headed out on the deck, and at some point Jack noticed that Mac wasn’t bothering to be quiet when he did things like open and close the doors. “Where’s Bozer?”

“Oh, he moved in with Leanna a few months ago,” Mac replied. That had been planned before Mac had gotten turned, but after he had pretty much shoved Bozer out the door because he had been afraid he wouldn’t be able to control himself. Thankfully Mac had the world’s most understanding best friend and their relationship hadn’t suffered for it, and now that Mac had better control it wasn’t an issue. “They’ve got an apartment together, it’s domestic and adorable.”

“Mhmm. How’s Desi been? She give you any trouble?” Jack asked, taking a sip of his coffee and watching Mac over the rim of his mug.

“Maybe a little at the beginning,” Mac admitted, gulping down some coffee himself. It was warm and liquidy, but that was where the similarities to blood ended. He still enjoyed the taste, though, which was nice. “But now we’re friends. Her vamp speed saved my ass more than once.” _Before I got my own_, he added mentally.

“Oh yeah, that’s quite badass.” Jack grinned and Mac watched him closely as they talked about Desi, looking for any signs of Jack being bothered by vampires, but he found none. Of course he didn’t, Jack had been friends with Desi for a long time, but for some reason Mac was convinced he would react differently if he found out the truth about Mac. He couldn’t explain why, he just… he couldn’t tell him. Jack couldn’t know, especially not now when Mac finally had him back.

Not wanting to accidentally reveal too much while talking about vampires, Mac changed the subject and asked, “What about you, man? Since you’re back I’m assuming you found Kovacs?”

“We did find him, yeah. Took longer than I would’ve liked, but I finally got the bastard… this time for good.” Jack gave Mac the short version of what had gone down, and it explained all the healing bruises he had – leave it to Jack to wind up fighting hand-to-hand with ten guys at once.

After that, they just… talked, and it felt good. Really good, at least until Mac’s phone rang around the time sun was coming up. He checked the caller ID and frowned. “It’s Matty.” Jack gestured for him to answer it and he did, putting the call on speakerphone. “Hey, Matty, I’m here with Jack,” he said, hoping she would get the memo and not mention anything vampire related, at least not if it had to do with Mac.

“Dalton, welcome back,” Matty said, and while her tone was businesslike the words were genuine. “You’re just in time to help us capture Murdoc. Again. He was spotted on surveillance footage outside Tacoma, Washington. There’s an old military training facility for vamps in that area, the theory is he may be hiding out there.”

“Wait, what?” Jack frowned, looking at Mac incredulously. “Since when that creep is out of his cage? Wasn’t he locked up after you made that deal with him?”

Mac winced, because that was right, Jack didn’t know. This hit a little too close to Mac’s secret, but he could work with that as long as the rest of the team kept their mouths shut. “Yeah, he managed to escape about six months ago,” Mac said quietly, miraculously keeping his voice steady. “Been in the wind ever since.”

“Yeah, and it’s time to bring him back in,” Matty’s firm voice sounded again before it softened just a bit. “Jack, you up for a mission that soon? We could use you since Desi and Leanna are on another assignment in Brazil right now.”

“Sure, no problem,” Jack replied, draining the last of his coffee. “Let me grab a shower real quick and then we’ll head to the airport.” He glanced at Mac almost like he was looking for… permission to use his shower? God, things really _were_ bad between them.

“Yeah, of course, go,” Mac said, waving him away, and Jack headed inside with their empty mugs.

“Blondie,” Matty started, and Mac took the call off speaker – Jack wouldn’t be able to hear it anyway, but just in case. “Are you good with this, going on a mission alone with Jack? Because if you’re not, you need to tell me now.”

“What? Matty, of course,” Mac said, frowning a little. He knew why she was asking, but still, it wasn’t a secret how much he had missed Jack and working with him, literally everyone at the Phoenix knew about that. And while he was terrified of Jack finding out about him being a vamp… he had gotten quite good at hiding it from people, so he was fairly confident he could play human just fine. “You know I missed working with him.”

“I do know that,” Matty said. “I also know that you’re good at passing as human by now.” She paused. “I just don’t want to see either of you get hurt, and I don’t mean out in the field. Personally I still think you should tell him before he finds out another way, but that’s your decision. Wheels up in an hour.” She hung up, and Mac stared at his phone screen for a moment before he went inside to get dressed and grab his go-bag… which now had a little cooler inside it to hold bags of blood.

He went back to the living room once he was ready, thinking about what Matty had said. He knew it wasn’t fair to keep the vamp thing a secret from Jack, he knew Jack would be safer if he knew… he deserved to have an option to refuse to work with Mac if it bothered him. Mac knew it was incredibly selfish to keep him in the dark, but… he had always put other people first, was it really that bad that he wanted to be selfish for once? It was bad, he knew it was, but he just couldn’t bring himself to tell Jack.

A moment later Jack emerged from Mac’s bedroom after taking the shower and he also must have changed because he was now wearing his leather jacket that Mac had missed so much. “Ready to go, hoss?” Jack asked with a grin, and Mac felt himself smile back, his heart stuttering.

“Yeah, I’m all set,” he replied, and they went out to the driveway. He remembered to grab the keys for the GTO and tossed them to Jack, then whisked the tarp off his beloved car. It had been sitting in front of Mac’s garage for months now, and it was nice to see it in all its glory again. The drive to the airport was amazing, just like old times, and Mac let himself enjoy Jack’s smell and the warmth from his proximity and how his heartbeat sounded. The flight itself wasn’t bad either, only a few hours, although the change in altitude bothered Mac’s ears more than it had when he was human. It was something minor to hide, though, and pretty soon they were in a rental car on the way to Murdoc’s last known location.

Mac wasn’t going to lie, the prospect of facing Murdoc terrified him. He wasn’t scared of him, not exactly, more like furious with him, but he was worried Murdoc would start babbling and Jack was going to find out about what had happened. An ideal scenario would be incapacitating Murdoc before he managed to open his mouth to speak, but Mac knew it was unlikely.

Once they got out of the car, they started walking towards the building and Mac had… a bad feeling about this. Everything was silent around them and Mac was focusing on picking up sounds and smells from far away, but nothing seemed suspicious, but still something didn’t feel right. Suddenly he heard a swift swishing sound, but even with his speed he wasn’t able to react fast enough and Jack hissed, clutching his neck… where Mac saw a small dart, filled with a sedative judging by the smell. “Jack!” Mac instantly reached for him and he was too preoccupied to notice another swishing sound… until he felt himself get hit with another dart filled with something… dead man’s blood, he realized absently as he slowly slid down to the ground, and everything went black.

* * *

Jack didn’t know how long he had been trapped… wherever he was. He guessed from the growth of his beard that it had probably been three days or so. The place was underground, he knew that much, and from the looks of the reinforced walls and door it seemed like it might have been an old bomb shelter or something. He doubted Murdoc had taken them too far, they were probably still in the same state – Washington was huge and it had a lot of isolated forested areas. He had been in the same eight-by-eight room for the entire time, with Murdoc occasionally bringing him food and water and flashing his fangs when Jack even thought about trying something. The psychopath had been oddly quiet the whole time, not responding to any of Jack’s digs or snarky remarks; the only time he had answered a question was when Jack had asked where Mac was, and all he had said was “nearby”. Jack was pretty sure the food or water or both had drugs in it, because whenever he ate he felt sleepy and dizzy, but it was either that or starve, so he played along.

At least until this moment, when Murdoc came into his room shortly after Jack finished eating and hauled him with a rough hand under his arm – and then slammed him face-first into the wall. “Come on, Jack, we need to get you nice and bloody for you reunion with the boy genius.”

Jack didn’t have a clue what Murdoc meant by that and frankly, he didn’t care. “Fuck off, you blood sucking-“ Jack’s very creative insult was cut off by his face being slammed into the wall again, and Murdoc just chuckled. Jack tried struggling, but Murdoc held him down easily – damn vampire strength – and then he punched him a few times before slashing his arm open with a knife. He didn’t cut through anything important, but the cut bled sluggishly and hurt like son of a bitch, but Jack kept his mouth shut.

“I think you’re ready,” Murdoc said gleefully before dragging him out of the room into a narrow hallway. His grip on Jack was firm and after a while they reached another door that Murdoc opened and shoved Jack into the room. “Enjoy, Angus,” he sing-sang, and then he was gone.

Glancing around the room, Jack’s heart dropped when his eyes fell on Mac. He was curled up in the furthest corner of the room, his knees drawn to his chest with his head buried in his arms. “Mac, buddy, you okay?” Jack immediately asked, taking a few steps forward.

“NO!” Mac’s sudden exclamation made him stop in his tracks. “Please, don’t… don’t come any closer, Jack, please.”

Mac was shaking, Jack realized a moment later. Not just trembling, but his whole body was shuddering like he was cold even though it was a comfortable temperature. He was digging his fingers into his own legs through the material of his jeans. “Mac, what are you talking about?” Jack asked, crouching down so they were on the same level. He winced a little, because between the drugs and Murdoc’s little beatdown, everything felt sort of stiff. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?” He reached out and touched the back of one of Mac’s hands, lightly, and startled when Mac jerked away from his touch like he had been burned.

“Jack, _please_,” Mac whispered, choking on a sob, and he was still hiding his face from Jack’s view. “Please, just… you need to stay away from me. I’ll hurt you if you don’t.”

“Mac, this is insane, what’s going on?” Jack asked, confused and worried, because Mac wasn’t making any sense. Slowly, he reached to touch Mac’s hand again. “Mac, come on, talk to-“ The second his hand touched Mac’s wrist, Mac flinched away again, but this time his head snapped up… and Jack jumped to his feet, stumbling back when Mac _hissed _at him. His eyes were completely black and he had… he had _fangs_ that were fully out, and for a second Jack was too shocked to say anything, staring at Mac completely frozen.

Almost instantly Mac whimpered, a pathetic little sound, and he curled up even more in himself, and that was what snapped Jack out of his shock. Because that was all it was, just shock, he wasn’t afraid of Mac, but… Mac didn’t know that, did he?

Jack cursed himself and his reaction and slowly approached Mac again, hands raised in a calming gesture, but Mac didn’t seem to notice. “Hey, it’s alright. It’s all good, Mac.” His head was spinning with the new revelation and he instantly knew that Murdoc couldn’t have turned Mac in the past three days – Mac had too much control for that, which meant… which meant he must have been turned while Jack had been away.

Mac shook his head, his hands going to squeeze his own skull, fingers tangling in his hair and pulling hard. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, Jack,” he whispered, low and broken, a sob pushing past his lips. He glanced up at Jack’s face like… like he was terrified of what he was going to see there, and when he blinked his eyes were watery blue and there were tears streaming down his cheeks. “I should’ve told you before we left, maybe if I had you wouldn’t have come with me and none of this would be happening.” He made himself as small as possible, pressing a hand over his mouth to restrain another sob, but also to hide his fangs. “I know you’re angry, but I couldn’t stop it from happening – the last time I saw Murdoc he turned me before he escaped. I… I couldn’t tell you, I knew you’d hate me if you didn’t already and I couldn’t… I was selfish for once in my life and this is what it got us, and I’m so sorry, Jack.”

Jack listened in horror, his heart literally breaking. “Mac, buddy, what are you… I’m not angry,” Jack said, trying to keep his voice steady and gentle, but it was hard, seeing Mac like this was tearing him up inside. “This is not your fault, none of it is, especially Murdoc turning you, this is not your fault.” Jack didn’t dare crouch back down next to Mac, not yet. Not because he was afraid, but because he needed Mac to calm down. He was still trying to wrap his mind around all of this, his chest tightening painfully when he thought about what Mac must have gone through. And god, he had known things were a bit… off between them before he had left, but was it really that bad that Mac had felt like he couldn’t have told Jack about this? “Mac, listen to me,” Jack said quietly. “You weren’t being selfish, you were… you were scared. And if I did anything to make you think I would react badly to this, I’m so sorry. But I don’t hate you, Mac, I could never-“ Jack took a deep breath, trying to stop himself from getting choked up. “Why would I hate you?”

“Because I’m… I’m not _me _anymore, Jack,” Mac said, and every time his voice cracked so did Jack’s heart. He had uncurled a little, so Jack decided it was probably safe to sit down on the floor. He leaned his shoulder against the wall and faced Mac, but kept a few feet of distance between them. “And things were so different between us before you left, and I hated it and I knew it was my fault, but I didn’t know how to fix it, and I figured… I figured once you found out I was a… a vampire, that would be… you wouldn’t want anything to do with me. Like the last straw, you know?” He sniffled a little, and Jack didn’t miss the way his eyes flicked to the cut on Jack’s arm. “He’s been starving me for three days. Murdoc, I mean.”

_Now_ it made sense what Murdoc’s plan was here, but Jack pushed that thought out of his head for now. “Mac, of course you’re still you,” he said, and he was unable to stay away, so he shifted closer to Mac, the thought that Mac could hurt him not even crossing his mind. “You’re the same blond genius I’ve always known.” Jack smiled a little before sighing. “And I know things were off between us, but it’s not your fault. It’s… maybe it’s both of us, maybe just me, but it… it doesn’t matter now, Mac. You’re still the most important person in my life and that’s never gonna change, you hear me?” Gently, Jack placed his hand on Mac’s shoulder who instantly tensed. Jack could see in his eyes that Mac still didn’t believe him, and well, Jack had always been all for being reckless and he needed to show Mac that he trusted him, so he just… pulled Mac into a hug, wrapping his arms around him.

Mac made a sound in the back of his throat, a high pitched whining that simultaneously made all the hair on Jack’s body stand up… and made his cock twitch in his pants, which was an incredibly inappropriate reaction that Jack quashed immediately. And Mac… didn’t push him away – in fact, he did the opposite, snaking his arms around Jack in return and squeezing, harder than a human could, but not hard enough to hurt. His fingers dug into the back of Jack’s leather jacket, and a moment later Mac buried his face in Jack’s neck, not to bite… to smell. He nuzzled his nose against Jack’s pulse and sighed, tension draining from his whole body, and he clambered closer, practically curling up in Jack’s lap. “You’re crazy,” he whispered, seeming to come back to himself a little once he had had his fill of Jack’s scent. He pulled back far enough to look at Jack, those blue eyes he loved so much going black as pitch. “I could tear you apart right now.”

“But you won’t,” Jack said, his voice quiet but firm. “You would never hurt me, Mac, I am absolutely certain of that.” He was tempted to brush the hair out of Mac’s eyes and touch his cheek, but that kind of gesture was definitely not a platonic one, and despite not being in the best place right now, Jack was sure Mac would figure out how Jack truly felt about him. If he was being honest, all he wanted right now was to kiss him, the temptation stronger than ever before, but he fought it, focusing on Mac. “I trust you, Mac. Always have and always will. You being a vamp doesn’t change a damn thing.”

After a moment Mac blinked and his eyes turned blue again, but to Jack’s terror they started to fill with tears. “I’m… how can you say that?” Mac whispered, his voice breaking. “I’m a… I could rip your throat out with my teeth before you even noticed I was moving. I’m a monster, Jack.”

“You’re not a… Mac, _no_,” Jack said, and he couldn’t keep the anguish out of his voice. “You’re better than that, I know you are. How many people have you fed from since you got turned, huh? How many have you hurt?”

“… none,” Mac admitted after a moment. “But that doesn’t mean it won’t happen.”

“Yeah, and I could get hit by a bus tomorrow – life’s unpredictable,” Jack said, smiling a little when Mac chuckled at that. “You’re a good person, Mac, you always have been, and getting turned didn’t change that. You’ve got control, or you would’ve been on me the second Murdoc threw me in here with you. I trust you, and if you can’t have faith in yourself, then have it in me, okay?”

“Okay,” Mac whispered, but he still sounded unsure, and unfortunately what Jack was about to say would probably make him react… badly, but Jack didn’t have a choice. If they wanted to stand any chance against Murdoc and get out of there, they needed Mac to be able to stand and use his powers, and there was only one way to make him stronger.

“Mac, you’re not gonna like what I’m about to tell you, but you need to listen to me,” Jack said quietly, and Mac’s eyes widened a little and he tensed in Jack’s arms, watching him nervously. “Mac, you… you need blood, or you’re gonna die. Plus we could really use your strength right now, so… you know there’s only one option here, right?”

“Jack, no… I can’t,” Mac whispered, his hands coming around to grip the front of Jack’s shirt, like he wanted to push him away but didn’t have the heart to. “I… I could hurt you. I won’t do that.”

“Murdoc’s gonna hurt me if we can’t get out of here,” Jack pointed out, and he was surprised when Mac growled at that idea, his eyes flashing black briefly. “Okay, okay, easy. What if you take it from my wrist, huh? It should give you more control, right? And I can push you away easier if it gets to be too much.”

Mac shifted a little in Jack’s lap and suddenly Jack was even more aware of how close they were together, but he tried to ignore it. “Jack, I’m…” Mac started, and the he licked his lips, and Jack couldn’t help but let his eyes trail the movement of his tongue. “I’ve never… I’ve never fed on a human before. I don’t… I won’t know when to stop and I’m going to hurt you, or… or worse,” Mac whispered, swallowing hard, and Jack noticed how Mac’s eyes were glued to his face, to his lips to be more specific… and then he remembered the split lip and that there was probably blood on his face. Suddenly, he couldn’t stop thinking about how it would feel to have Mac feed on him – he had never let a vampire do that to him, but he had heard it could get… intense, especially if there were some feelings between the vampire and the human. But it didn’t matter because Mac didn’t feel that way about him… right?

“I’m not seeing where we’ve got another option, Mac,” Jack said, his voice rasping a little. His eyes searched Mac’s face, and he was trying to think of another way to prove to Mac that he trusted him, even if Mac wasn’t totally sure what he was doing. He felt blood tricking off his lower lip and licked at it to get it to go away. The rift in their relationship reared its ugly head again, and before he knew what he was doing, he blurted out: “Do you know why I was so upset that you ran away to Nigeria after you found out about your old man?”

Mac’s eyes followed Jack’s tongue, but they snapped up to meet Jack’s eyes the second he asked the question. Jack felt himself tense even more and then Mac glanced away, his grip on Jack’s shirt not loosening even a bit. “I’m… because I just left, barely saying goodbye. And I put the team at risk since you were a member down and I… I ignored your messaged.” Mac’s voice was quiet and uncertain, as if he wasn’t sure where Jack was going with this.

Jack made a frustrated sound and tightened his grip on Mac involuntarily. “No, Mac… I was upset because you didn’t let me come with you.” It felt good to say it out loud, but Jack’s stomach rolled dangerously when he thought about what he needed to say next. “I wanted to help you, and I thought… I thought maybe when you found out it was your dad who put us together, that you didn’t want anything to do with me anymore. And I would’ve respected that if that was what you wanted, but… but once I thought of it I couldn’t bring myself to come to Nigeria and find out because…” He took in a deep breath and squeezes his eyes shut. “Because I’m in love with you, Mac. Have been for years. And I was terrified of you not being in my life anymore.”

Mac was staring at him with wide eyes, disbelief written all over his face. “I’m…” He swallows hard, eyes searching Jack’s face. “You’re… god, you’re serious,” he whispered, completely shocked, his voice full of wonder. “You’re serious,” he repeated, and then his hands moved from clutching Jack’s shirt to frame his face. “I… Jack, it didn’t matter that he put us together, not when I actually thought about it. It didn’t matter how you came into my life, what mattered was… was how important you’ve become to me, and how I…” Mac’s voice shook a little, but he took a deep breath and continued, “how I fell in love with you.”

The second the words were out of Mac’s mouth, Jack closed the distance between them and pressed their lips together. Mac made this wounded noise in the back of his throat and he gripped Jack’s face harder, his tongue swiping over Jack’s bottom lip… and licking the blood from there. He whined against Jack’s mouth, and Jack was more than happy to let him deepen the kiss, not fully believing this was actually happening. He wasn’t sure how long they had been kissing like that, the kiss urgent and heated, but suddenly one of Mac’s fangs jabbed Jack’s lower lip and he hissed in pain. Mac immediately pulled back, looking at Jack with worried eyes, but Jack just shook his head. “This is nothin’, darlin’,” he murmured, and kissed him again. He also shifted them and rearranged their position so that Mac was leaning his back against the wall and Jack was straddling his thighs. “Mac, baby,” he whispered against Mac’s lips, pulling back and brushing the hair out of Mac’s eyes… that were black again. “I know we need to talk about it, but we don’t have time right now. And you… you know what you need to do.” As much as Jack would have loved to keep kissing Mac, he knew Murdoc could have come back any moment, angry about his plan not working. And with Mac in his current state, Jack had to be the reasonable one, and he kind of hated it. “I trust you, baby.” Shifting, he leaned in to kiss Mac’s forehead… which put his neck right at Mac’s eye level.

Mac’s breath hitched, his hands sliding restlessly up and down Jack’s back through his jacket. “What happened to taking it from your wrist?” he asked in a hushed voice, his breath warm against the skin of Jack’s neck.

“I trust you,” was Jack’s response, his hands moving to Mac’s shoulder, one of them sliding up into Mac’s hair. It was so soft, just like he had thought it would have been, and Jack dragged the pads of his fingers over Mac’s scalp. Mac shuddered a little under his touch and pressed his face into Jack’s neck again, his lips brushing over Jack’s pulse where it was throbbing in his neck. He felt the faintest touch of Mac’s tongue before his fangs pressed against Jack’s jugular, breaking through the skin. Blood came to the surface and Mac started to feed, a moan escaping him as warm, fresh blood flew down his throat. Jack groaned softly, but it wasn’t a pained sound, not at all. The bite actually hadn’t hurt like Jack had expected and neither did the feeding. Instead it felt… warm and fuzzy and intimate, and so much more intense than Jack could have imagined.

After a moment Mac tightened his arms around him and bit him even deeper, and Jack gasped loudly, hands gripping Mac’s hair and his shoulder… and his hips twitched and Jack absently realized he was getting hard. If it hadn’t been for the current situation Jack would have been more than happy to continue, but he didn’t want to give Murdoc a show if he was somehow watching or listening to them. He also started getting a little light-headed, so he tapped Mac’s shoulder, trying to get him to stop… but Mac didn’t react, only moaning against Jack’s neck, one of his hands sliding lower to grope his ass. “Mac,” Jack gasped, his voice low and raspy, and Mac instantly froze.

It stung a little when Mac pulled his fangs from Jack’s flesh, but he licked over the wound with his tongue and it started to heal, tingling as the skin began to knit itself back together. He leaned back to look at Jack, his eyes shifting back to blue as he licked a drop of Jack’s blood from his bottom lip. “That… that was amazing,” he breathed out, leaning in to kiss Jack’s cheek. His color was much better now, closer to his usual tan instead of having a gray cast. “Did… did you feel…”

“Yeah, I did,” Jack murmured, turning his head just enough to kiss Mac’s lips, because he knew exactly what Mac meant – he was half-hard and he could feel Mac was the same way. “And as soon as we’re out of here, I’d be more than happy to let you do that again… maybe while we’re having some fun.”

Mac growled against Jack’s lips, his hand that was still on Jack’s ass squeezing it hard. “Can’t wait,” he breathed out, and once he pulled back, Jack sagged a little against Mac, the blood loss making him a little dizzy. “You alright?” Mac murmured into Jack’s ear, and Jack hummed quietly in response.

“I’m gonna be just fine, just… give me a minute? And in the meantime you could start trying to figure out how to get the hell outta here.”

Mac slid his arms more securely around Jack so he didn’t accidentally teeter to one side, and Jack rested his head against Mac’s shoulder and tried to get himself together. He could practically hear the gears turning in Mac’s head, so he wasn’t surprised when Mac spoke a moment later, quietly and slowly so Jack’s blood loss addled brain understood: “I can’t break down the door even at full strength, it’s too heavy… but I don’t think Murdoc has eyes on us here. If we make enough noise and lure him in, between you and me we can take him out.”

Jack didn’t exactly see himself fighting a vampire, especially without any weapons. “You sure, Mac? You’d probably have to do most of the work since I don’t really stand a chance against a vamp while I’m unarmed,” he muttered against Mac’s skin, slowly starting to feel better. “But I’m more than happy to play bait.”

“Just go for his legs and I’ll do the rest,” Mac said, one of his hands rubbing soothingly up and down Jack’s spine until Jack sat up, figuring it was now or never. They both stood up and started screaming nonsense at each other, a dramatized version of the conversation they had just had about how Mac needed to feed on Jack in order for them to escape. And sure enough, Mac’s head tilted toward the door, no doubt hearing Murdoc’s footsteps before Jack did. As soon as the door swung open Jack dove for Murdoc’s knees, tackling him to the floor, and then Mac was on him, snapping Murdoc’s neck to stun him temporarily. Jack was seriously considering finding a wooden stake or a machete and ending him permanently, but Mac just put a hand on his shoulder and said one word: “Cassian.”

Jack grumbled, but got to his feet, knowing that as much of a bastard Murdoc was, he did care about his kid, and leaving him without a father would be a dick move. He patted down Murdoc’s pockets and found a cell phone, then tried to find a signal while Mac dragged him out of the room they had just escaped and locked Murdoc in. “Damn it, I can’t get any bars,” Jack said, looking at Mac once he was back by his side. “We’ll have to get outside if we wanna call for exfil.”

“Let’s go,” Mac said, grabbing Jack’s hand and after a moment he tugged him left, deeper into the hallway. Jack followed without protest, figuring Mac could have probably heard something coming from the outside, or smell the fresh air, and that would have led them to the exit. Things got a little more complicated when they got to a completely dark hallway, but Mac just kissed Jack’s cheek and squeezed his hand before leading him through it, and eventually they found their way outside.

Checking the phone, Jack breathed out in relief when he saw it worked and he dialed the right number, Matty picking up after two rings. “Hey, Matty, it’s Jack,” he started, already bracing himself for some yelling. “We’re… alive?”

There was yelling, and Jack had to hold the phone away from his ear, but Matty actually seemed relieved that they were all right. “Did he finally tell you?” she asked, and when Jack confirmed that he knew Mac was a vampire, she breathed out a sigh. “Good. Now we can all stop walking on eggshells and act like people again. As for exfil… I can have a helicopter land at your current location, but it’s not gonna be until tomorrow morning.” The sun was on its way to the western side of the sky, and the shadows closing in from the forest around them felt slightly intimidating. “That’s not gonna be a problem, right? Murdoc’s locked down?”

“He can’t get out of there,” Mac confirmed, and Jack startled a little, but then he realized that with vamp hearing he could hear Matty’s end of the conversation too. “We can probably wait until morning. This looks like it was some kind of government training ground, like the first one he led us to – this is just more remote.” There was a large structure off to their left that looked like it had been once a barracks. “We’ve got shelter. I think we’ll be okay.”

Matty told them to be careful just in case and the she hung up. Jack put the phone in his back pocket and glanced around, his eyes falling on Mac. He looked beautiful, a stray ray of sunshine making him look so much more stunning, and Jack couldn’t help himself. Wrapping an arm around his waist, he pulled Mac closer, his heart stuttering when Mac went easily, wrapping his arms around Jack’s neck. “I love you,” Jack murmured before leaning in and kissing Mac, still amazed that he actually got to do it.

Mac kissed him back, pressing himself closer, one of his hands moving to cup the back of Jack’s neck. “I love you too,” he said softly when they broke apart. “I can’t believe that… that you feel the same way, especially after…” He trailed off, that same hand sliding around to touch the mark where Mac had bitten him earlier. It had only been a few minutes, but the punctures had already scabbed over and started healing. He looked into Jack’s eyes and whatever he saw there must have satisfied him because he smiled a little and took Jack’s hand, tugging him toward the abandoned barracks. “Come on, we should get inside. It gets cold in the woods like this at night.” Of course the cold wouldn’t really be an issue for Mac, but he was thinking of Jack’s wellbeing and that was… practical. And sweet.

The inside of the barracks was massive, a yawning chasm where beds would have been once. There was a little area at the other end that seemed to be like a miniature mess hall, and some bathrooms were walled off from the main area. It was dark and kind of musty, and Jack took a seat in the corner furthest of the door. Mac managed to scrounge up a lantern that miraculously had some power in its batteries – and again, he didn’t need light to see, but Jack did, and he also knew how twitchy Jack got when he didn’t have a weapon on him, like right now. Murdoc hadn’t had a gun on him, but after some more rummaging on Mac’s part, he came up with an old Beretta M9 with a few bullets in its clip. He handed it to Jack before he sat down in his lap again, curling in close and pressing a kiss to Jack’s cheek. “Don’t worry, I can keep you safe.”

Jack wrapped his arms around Mac, hugging him, and he realized that… Mac was right. “Used to be the other way around, me protecting you,” Jack said, ignoring the pang in his chest. It had always been Jack keeping Mac safe, no matter what, but now with Mac’s speed, strength, his senses… that wasn’t really necessary, was it? “Not much can hurt you right now, so…” he trailed off, swallowing hard. “You don’t really… need anyone to watch your back in the field. So I guess… you don’t really need… me anymore.”

Mac pulled back a little to look at him, bringing up a hand to touch Jack’s face. “Are you crazy? Jack, I’ll always need you – for protection, yeah, but for so much more than that.” He smiled that smile that Jack used to privately think had been just for him, and now he wondered if he had been right. “You’re my favorite person, and I love you. Besides, even with my enhancements, Desi and I have run into problems. There are a lot of people out there who hate vampires, you know, and some of them walk around with stuff that can hurt us. Also if I’m going to disarm a bomb or something, I can’t exactly be defending myself at the same time.”

Jack’s heart fluttered stupidly and he leaned in to kiss Mac’s chin, smiling against his skin. “That’s… that’s good,” he muttered, closing his eyes for a moment and enjoying how great it felt to have Mac so close. “Otherwise I’d end up without a job and probably die of boredom,” he teased a little, his smile widening when he heard Mac chuckle.

“We wouldn’t want that,” Mac said, and Jack watched as he tilted his head a little, listening to sounds Jack couldn’t perceive. “Just animals outside, I don’t hear any other people. Well, Murdoc, I guess, but he’s too deep underground.” He swallowed hard, his fingers fiddling absently with the lapels of Jack’s jacket. “I thought about letting you kill him back there. For turning me, I mean.”

“He deserves to die for everything he put you through,” Jack said darkly, his grip on Mac tightening. He took a deep breath, swallowing down the anger. “Especially for turning you and then trying to force you to kill me.” One of his hands slowly stroked Mac’s back, feeling the tension in his shoulders. “The fact that he even got his hands on you…” Jack’s voice shook a little, and he took another deep breath. “He doesn’t deserve any mercy.”

“I think I’d rather see him rot in a hole for the rest of his life,” Mac mused, cuddling up to Jack, nuzzling his jaw. “Maybe with Helman as a neighbor.” They lapsed into silence for a while, and then Mac must have thought of something because he sat back again. “Are you hungry? I bet I can find stuff to start a fire, and I can go… um, find something for you to eat. You know, from the woods.”

Jack blinked a few times before Mac’s words fully registered in his brain. “I’m good-“ As if on cue, his stomach grumbled quietly, but with his hearing Jack was sure Mac heard it just fine. He smirked knowingly and Jack rolled his eyes fondly. “Okay, fine, I guess I could eat… but I don’t want you to do anything you’re not comfortable with.” _Like hunting in the woods_, he added mentally.

Mac shrugged a little. “Unfortunately at this point I’ve eaten a lot of wildlife. If Desi and I were on a mission and we ran out of blood bags, we didn’t have much of a choice.” He gave Jack a peck on the lips. “Be right back.” And then he was gone in a rush of vamp speed.

Jack took it upon himself to find supplies for a fire, opening a window for ventilation before dragging an empty barrel near it and filling it with wooden scraps from the bunk beds. An old dishwashing rack served as a grate, and he was lucky enough to come across some lighter fluid and matches. He got the fire started right as Mac returned, carrying a freshly skinned and halved rabbit. Growing up in Texas sort of had made Jack immune to seeing game in such a state, but it clearly still bothered Mac. He set it gently on the grate and also handed Jack a nice sturdy stick to turn it with it. He stayed back from the fire a little, since vamps singed easily… and reached behind himself, pulling out another rabbit that wasn’t skinned, just dead. He was still hungry, Jack realized, and Mac watched Jack’s expression for his reaction as he sank his fangs into the animal to drink its blood.

Jack had seen vampires feed from animals before, for example Desi, so he didn’t even flinch. He glanced at the fire and his own rabbit, turning it a bit before looking at Mac again. It didn’t bother him, not at all, and he was happy to see some of the uncertainty disappear from Mac’s eyes. He must have been still worried about Jack’s reactions, so now Jack was even more determined to prove to him that he really was okay with the vamp thing. Once Mac was done, he walked up closer to Jack, so he took a step back from the fire to make it possible for Mac to comfortably stand next to him. “It bothers you,” Jack said quietly, gesturing at the rabbit when Mac made a questioning sound. “More than you let on.”

“Of course it does,” Mac replied, just as quiet, and when Jack used the stick to lift the grate a little he tossed the drained corpse into the fire. Then he nudged his way under Jack’s arms, and Jack wrapped it around his waist and kissed the side of his head. Once his rabbit was done cooking he took the whole grate off the fire so it could cool, and they sat down next to it, with Jack as a buffer between the barrel and Mac. “I’m just… well, you liked to call me pacifist,” Mac continued, a little smile twitching at his lips. “But… I don’t like hurting people, or animals. I never have, and I probably never will. And knowing I need to have blood to survive… it took a while to get used to.”

Jack was quiet for a moment, thinking about how to reply to that. He couldn’t even imagine how hard it must have been for Mac to get used to that and how it went against Mac’s nature and his need to always help the others before himself. “You can’t beat yourself up over this, you know,” Jack said quietly, pulling Mac closer until his head was resting on Jack’s shoulder. “You’re not a bad person for doing this.” From the way Mac tensed a little Jack knew that he had guessed right what was in Mac’s head. “You mostly feed from the bags, right?” he asked, waiting for Mac to nod. “And you only feed from animals when you absolutely have to, and before today you’ve never bitten a human?” When Mac nodded again Jack pressed a kiss to his hair. “You’re doing your best, baby, and it doesn’t make you a bad person. And it definitely doesn’t make you a monster, so get that thought out of your head right now.”

Mac was quiet for a moment after Jack was done talking. “Thank you, Jack,” he whispered, and when Jack made a questioning sound – around a mouthful of rabbit, which was actually not bad – he clarified, “For being so understanding, and for… for not treating me differently. I think that was the thing that scared me the most about telling you. I couldn’t stand the idea that you might… might not see me the same way.” He had an arm wrapped around Jack’s back, and those long, clever fingers had crept under the hem of Jack’s shirt to stroke at his skin.

Jack shivered a little at the touch and swallowed the last bit of the rabbit before wrapping both of his arms around Mac. “Of course, Mac,” he said, a small smile playing on his lips. “Sure, you may be a vamp badass now, but you’re still the same nerdy genius I fell in love with.” It felt so good to finally be able to say these words out loud and the smile on Jack’s face widened. “I’m sure you still love blowing shit up, and you still hate seafood. You’re still you.”

Mac smiled that smile again, the one that made Jack’s heart flutter because it was so damn pretty, and it was for _him_. “I love you too, Jack,” he said, and leaned in to kiss the corner of Jack’s mouth. But now that they had both eaten and they were relatively safe. Jack had to kiss him for real, so he turned his head just enough that their lips met instead. Mac sighed against his mouth and kissed him back, one of his hands going to Jack’s cheek while he tightened his arm around his back. After a few chaste, soft kisses Jack licked over Mac’s lower lip and he instantly opened up, allowing Jack to slip his tongue into his mouth. There was a vague taste of blood there, but it was easy to ignore and Jack made a small sound in the back of his throat, tugging Mac until he was fully in his lap, straddling his thighs.

Mac kissed exactly how Jack had expected him to: thoroughly and curiously, like he was conducting an experiment. It felt ridiculously good, and when Jack ran his hands over Mac’s back he shivered, pulling back momentarily to look at Jack with those entirely black eyes, shining like onyx in the firelight. “Gorgeous,” Jack murmured, and slid a hand up to tangle in Mac’s hair, urging him into another deep kiss.

Mac slid both of his arms around Jack’s neck and pressed himself even closer. One of Jack’s hands moved lower to grope his ass and Mac whined quietly into his mouth. He pulled back a moment later, his eyes still completely black. “They… they don’t bother you?” he whispered, resting his forehead against Jack’s, and Jack could feel his warm breath on his lips.

“Not at all,” Jack whispered back, and it was the truth. He loved Mac’s eyes when they were blue, but there was nothing wrong or frightening when they turned black and opaque. He lied back on the floor and pulled Mac with him, so he was covering Jack with his body. “I’ve gotta admit… I really liked how it felt when you bit me earlier.”

Mac braced himself on his forearms and leaned down to kiss him, slow and deep. “As… creepy as it may sound,” he started after breaking the kiss a moment later, “I really liked biting you.” He kissed the corner of Jack’s mouth before kissing his cheek and nuzzling his jaw. “You know, after I got turned and learned how to control myself, I didn’t feel the urge to feed from people. I could smell them, their blood, but I didn’t want it.” He pulled back to look down at Jack, and even though his eyes were black, there was a vulnerable look on his face. “But with you… when you got to my house, when I smelled you, your blood… I wanted you, I _craved_ it in a way I never did before.”

“That’s… strangely flattering,” Jack said, and used the hand he had in Mac’s hair to brush it out of his face. “I’ve never… I mean, I’ve heard of people who go to clubs where they can get bitten by vamps, but that never appealed to me. I know it can feel good, but I wouldn’t be able to trust a random stranger like that.” He tugged Mac down a little to kiss him again. “But I trust you with everything.”

“It still blows my mind,” Mac whispered against his lips. “That you’re letting me do this.” He kissed Jack again, instantly slipping his tongue into his mouth. One of his hands came to rest on the side of Jack’s neck, his pulse thudding away under his fingers, and Jack groaned loudly when the kiss started to turn more heated. He squeezed Mac’s ass, hard, and tightened his other arm around his waist, making Mac whimper into his mouth. A moment later Mac broke the kiss and started mouthing on Jack’s jaw, nipping on his skin with his human teeth, no fangs. “Fuck, Jack,” he breathed out, moving lower until his lips were pressed to Jack’s pulse point.

“I’d let you do just about anything you want to me, baby,” Jack said, a pleasant shudder rippling through him when he felt Mac’s mouth on his jugular. He took his hand off Mac’s ass, but only to bring it around to the front of his pants, eventually having to employ his other hand to get Mac’s jeans open. He felt Mac’s hips twitch forward into his touch and groaned a little when Mac scraped his front teeth – again, no fangs – over Jack’s skin.

Once Mac’s jeans were open, Jack slid his hand inside to grope Mac’s cock over his underwear. Mac was already half-hard and he moaned loudly against Jack’s skin, hips pushing into Jack’s hand. “Jack, oh god,” he groaned, his voice dropping lower, and Jack’s hips twitched without his control, thrusting up and desperate for some friction.

Mac rested his weight on one elbow and scrabbled at Jack’s belt, practically ripping it apart in his haste to get it open. Once he had Jack’s jeans shoved down a little bit he plunged a hand inside Jack’s underwear and got his fingers around his cock. “Jesus, Mac,” Jack gasped, pushing into that touch and unable to stop himself from wondering how those fingers would feel inside him. He had meant it when he had said he trusted Mac with everything… but unfortunately they didn’t have the supplies for that.

He somehow managed to focus long enough to wrap his fingers around Mac’s cock and start stroking him. Mac faltered a little, groaning against Jack’s neck, and he thrusted into Jack’s hand a few times before he tightened his grip on Jack’s cock, giving him a few strokes as well. Even though this was just a handjob, it was enough to make Jack see stars… and then Mac started nosing at his throat, panting heavily against his skin. “Jack, _Jack_.”

Jack ran a hand up Mac’s spine in time with a particularly long, slow stroke over his cock. He tangled his fingers back in those soft blond locks again and tugged, hearing a moan not far from his ear, and he twisted his hand the next time he reached the head of Mac’s cock. “Go ahead, darlin’,” he whispered, answering the question Mac was asking with the way his mouth was hovering over Jack’s pulse. “Do it, I want you to.”

Mac whined quietly and a moment later Jack felt a sharp pressure of his fangs on his skin, and then Mac bit him. Somehow, probably thanks to what they were doing, it felt even more intense than before. Jack’s entire body jolted as he moaned loudly, his grip on Mac’s cock loosening, both his hands flying to Mac’s back, fingers digging in. Once again it felt warm and fuzzy, but this time there was also this urgency behind it, and it took a moment for Jack’s clouded mind to realize his hips were moving erratically, rapidly thrusting up into Mac’s hand, who was matching his strokes with the gulps of Jack’s blood. “Mac, oh _god_,” Jack moaned, and Mac _growled _against his neck, biting him deeper and causing Jack to arch in pleasure underneath him. Mac’s hips were moving too, grinding his cock against Jack’s hipbone, but he seemed to be mainly focused on driving Jack wild with the way he was drinking from he like he never wanted to stop. All it took was a few more firm strokes and the feeling of Mac’s fangs sinking into his skin for a third time for Jack to come so hard he almost passed out, spurting over Mac’s fingers. Mac let out a whine, his teeth still buried in Jack’s flesh as he came too, rutting his way through the aftershocks against Jack’s leg.

While he didn’t lose consciousness, Jack wasn’t fully aware as he tried to catch his breath, staring at the ceiling. His arms limply slid down from around Mac’s body to the floor, and he barely noticed Mac pulling his fangs out and licking over the puncture marks before pressing soft kisses to them. Jack blinked slowly a few times and at one point his eyes must have been closed a bit longer, because when he opened them he saw Mac’s face above him, his blue eyes watching him worriedly. “Jack? Jack, are you okay?”

“M’fine,” Jack said, and grabbed the front of Mac’s shirt to pull him down for a somewhat sloppy kiss that tasted a lot like blood, but Jack didn’t mind. “Just almost passed out from how good that felt.” He smiled when that admission made Mac blush, and Jack took a thumb and wiped away a stray drop of blood that was trailing down Mac’s chin. “I’m okay, baby, I promise. Just don’t expect me to move for a while.”

“That was… amazing,” Mac breathed out, leaning in to kiss Jack’s cheek. He cleaned them up as much as he could with a tissue he had apparently found in his pocket, and even though Jack’s jeans were ruined from Mac coming all over them, Jack didn’t mind. Mac kissed Jack again, sweet and slow, before pulling back to brush his fingers against Jack’s stubble. He was softly smiling down at him before he tilted his head a little. “Hey, this can’t be good for you back. Here.” He rolled down on the floor so he wasn’t on top of Jack and laid on his back, tugging Jack until he was lying half on top of him with his head pillowed on Mac’s shoulder. Mac’s strong arms wrapped around him, holding him close, and he kissed Jack’s forehead. “I’m… I can’t get enough of you,” he whispered after a moment. “You’re like a drug.”

“Again, strangely flattering,” Jack muttered, snorting when Mac laughed a little. And naturally Jack ran at the mouth, especially after sex, so he kept going: “Are we talking like some really good weed, or hard stuff? Because I don’t wanna be like, methamphetamine for vampires, okay? That wouldn’t be a compliment.” A pause. “Do you think a vampire would lose their teeth if they kept sucking on meth addicts?” By now Mac was shaking underneath him with laughter, one of his hands stroking up and down Jack’s side, and Jack smiled. Anything that got Mac to stop taking himself so seriously for a while was good in his book, and he snuggled closer in Mac’s hold.

“You’re crazy,” Mac said, still chuckling, his voice lighter than before. “But just so you know, you’re the best kind of drug.” He tightened his arms around Jack, and they were quiet for a while, and Jack could feel his eyes start to drop. “You should get some sleep,” Mac said quietly just as Jack was stifling a yawn. “You need rest after… after all that blood loss.” Jack couldn’t see his face, but he knew Mac was blushing, he could somehow hear it in his voice. “You’re safe here, I’ll keep watch,” he murmured, his breath warm against Jack’s ear.

Jack wrapped an arm around Mac’s middle and gave him a squeeze. If it had been anyone else, no matter how much Jack had liked them, he would have stayed awake. But he had meant what he had said earlier: he trusted Mac with everything, including his life. “Bet you’re gonna sniff me in my sleep,” he mumbled, smiling when Mac laughed. “Love you, darlin’.”

He fell asleep after that, but he was pretty sure he heard Mac say it back.

* * *

Staring at the ceiling, Mac wondered for the umpteenth time how the hell he had gotten so lucky. Jack was snoring softly, snuggled up against his chest, and Mac couldn’t help but smile, pressing a soft kiss to his hair. Mac had spent most of the night watching Jack and yes, also sniffing him like Jack had said – Jack smelled amazing and Mac loved it, sue him. He had taken a short nap in the middle of the night, but other than that he had stayed awake, the close proximity of Murdoc making him feel uneasy, even though he knew there was no chance for him to get out. He had also selfishly wanted to stare at Jack and watch him sleep – he knew it was creepy, but Jack was gorgeous, and it still blew Mac’s mind how… relaxed he looked. He was completely at ease, deeply asleep which meant he felt completely safe. Safe in Mac’s arms, Mac who could have torn him to pieces in a few seconds. Not that he ever would have, but still, Mac couldn’t get over how much Jack trusted him.

Jack stirred a little in his arms, and the next thing Mac knew he was blinking those pretty brown eyes at him. “Good morning,” Mac murmured, rubbing a hand up and down Jack’s back.

“Mhmm, morning,” Jack said, his voice low and raspy from sleep, and he pressed a kiss to Mac’s skin where it was exposed above the collar of his shirt. “I take it no monsters crawled out of the woods to try and eat us overnight?”

“Nope, no monsters,” Mac replied with a smile, one of his hands resting on the back of Jack’s neck, fingers stroking his short hair. “A few animals here and there, but other than that it was all clear.” Jack hummed in response, cuddling up closer and nuzzling Mac’s chest. “God, you’re _adorable_,” he blurted out, his eyes widening when he realized he had said that out loud.

Jack chuckled a little, but not at Mac’s expense – he never did that. “Been called a lot of things in my time, but adorable hasn’t been one until now,” he said, and was Mac losing it or was Jack blushing a little? His big hand squeezed Mac’s hip affectionately, and before Mac could say anything else, a noise caught his attention: the thump-thump of rotor blades.

“I think our ride’s here,” he told Jack, and a few seconds later the helicopter was within range of human hearing too. They got up and headed outside, and Desi was there to greet them in her tac gear.

“Hey, fellas,” she said, scenting the air, grinning like a maniac when she spotted the healing marks on Jack’s neck. “Guess you two pulled your heads out of your asses.”

Mac felt himself blush because he knew that along with seeing the marks Desi could also smell the scent of sex on them. “Shut up,” he grumbled, grabbing Jack’s hand and tugging him toward the helicopter. She laughed loudly and so did Jack, and while they were passing her she gave Jack a short hug.

“Good to see you, Jack,” she said with a smile, and Mac rolled his eyes fondly.

“What about me? Not happy to see me?” he asked with a grin, and it was Desi’s turn to roll her eyes.

“I saw you a few days ago. Dalton’s been gone for almost a year, he deserves the hug more.”

Mac pretended to pout a little for the first five minutes of the flight, but he got to hold Jack’s hand the whole way back and that more than made up for a lack of a hug from Desi. He heard from her that Murdoc was going to be locked in a solitary coffin for a while and he couldn’t bring himself to feel remotely bad about that. From the Phoenix’s helipad they headed straight to Mac’s house where the whole gang was waiting for the with a spread of pizza and beers and yes, blood bags. One look at their faces told Mac what he needed to know and he rolled his eyes. “How long have you been taking bets on when we’d get together?”

“A long damn time, and I won,” Riley said triumphantly, and came over to give both of them a hug. Bozer and Matty followed her, and then Mac’s dad was wrapping him up in an embrace.

“Glad you’re okay,” James said, and glanced at Jack. “Both of you.”

Mac hugged his dad back, and when he pulled away he saw the surprised look on Jack’s face when James offered him a hand to shake and patted his shoulder. He was also aware that everyone could probably see the bite marks on Jack’s neck – they would have to figure something out unless they wanted the team to know exactly every time when they had sex – but no one said anything. They all settled on the deck, and Mac forced himself to leave Jack’s side for a while. The team hadn’t gotten a chance to see him when he had gotten back because they had left on the mission almost immediately, so Riley was now glued to his side, and Mac was more than happy to see her smiling so widely – she had missed Jack just like he had.

He leaned against the deck rail and cracked open a blood bag, sipping a little. Bozer loped over a moment later with two beers in hand, and drank from one while Mac had his blood, wordlessly holding the other for him. “I’m glad you guys are okay,” Bozer started, and nudged Mac’s shoulder with his own. Even with the vamp thing, nothing had changed between him and his best friend, and Mac was forever grateful for that. “I’m also glad you finally told him, Mac. We all tried to tell you he wouldn’t have a problem with it.”

“I know,” Mac said, glancing at Jack and smiling when he laughed at something Riley had said. “I know, Boze, I just thought… I don’t even know what I thought.” He shook his head, chuckling a little. “I was just-“

“- being an idiot?” Bozer supplied, and Mac chuckled again.

“Yeah, pretty much,” he agreed, taking a sip of the beer once he was done with blood. “And I probably still would’ve been one if it hadn’t been for this mission.” When Bozer made a questioning sound, Mac sighed. “It’s not like I chose to tell him, Boze. He kind of found out on his own, Murdoc made sure it would happen.”

Bozer nudged his shoulder again, imploringly, so Mac told him the story, leaving out the… sexual parts, but he was sure Bozer could guess at what had happened there. “So what you’re saying is, you’re still a chickenshit?” Bozer teased, squinting at him, and then they both laughed. “Seriously though, I’m happy for you. Both of you.” He paused. “So when do you think Riley’s gonna tell him she and Desi are dating?”

Mac glanced up again, this time at Desi who was watching Jack and Riley with a fond smile. Her hands were twitching, though, a rare nervous gesture, so Mac was guessing they had decided to tell Jack soon, probably right now. Riley also looked nervous and even though Mac usually tried not to eavesdrop on conversations by distracting himself, he couldn’t help himself this time. “… we’re kind of… dating.” Mac heard Riley say once he tuned in, and Jack’s head snapped in Desi’s direction.

“Looks like she just did,” Mac told Bozer, a small smile on his face.

Desi got up and took a few steps closer, plopping down on Jack’s other side. “Surprise,” she said, waggling her eyebrows. “We’ve been going out for a few months now. And unlike you and the boy genius, everybody didn’t know right away because I didn’t chomp on her neck like a steak kabob.” Jack sputtered a little, and while Mac felt his face flush at that, he was more interested in the fact that _Jack_ was blushing.

Riley still looked anxious, and Jack snapped out of his embarrassment to give her a hug. “Okay, baby girl, you know I love you no matter what. And you could do a lot worse than Desi, you know I love her too.”

“Aw, you big sap,” Desi said, elbowing him, but Mac could tell she was secretly pleased.

Riley looked relieved when jack pulled back and she smiled widely, first at him and then at Desi. “Well, that went better than I thought it would,” Bozer commented, and Mac just hummed in response, more focused on the way Jack’s heartbeat sped up after Desi’s comment about biting. He inwardly rolled his eyes at himself, because he was acting like a horny teenage boy, but he just couldn’t help it – after so many years of fantasizing about being with Jack once he had gotten to experience it for real, he needed more. He wasn’t even talking about biting him, although it was a very… nice bonus, one that Mac hadn’t expected and had never considered after he had gotten turned. After a moment Jack looked up and their eyes met, and there must have been some kind of look on Mac’s face, because Jack arched his eyebrow questioningly, and out of the corner of his eyes Mac could see Desi smirk knowingly.

Mac and Bozer came over to join them, and Mac finally gave into temptation and sat down in Jack’s lap, giving him a kiss on the cheek. “Wondered how long that was gonna take,” Matty commented, and that startled a laugh out of everyone. Mac took note of how close she was sitting to his dad and wondered… and then promptly decided he didn’t want to know. Good for them if that was the case, but he didn’t need to think about his dad’s sex life. Leanna snuggled up to Bozer, and Desi moved so she could sit next to Riley and wrap an arm around her, and it was… nice, getting to spend time with everyone that wasn’t pressured by work.

They had been hanging out like that sometimes, but it had never felt completely right, not with Jack missing, and now everything was back to normal. Jack’s arms wrapped around Mac and he linked his fingers on Mac’s hip, and Mac couldn’t help but smile. After he had gotten turned at one point he had thought he could never be truly happy again, thinking Jack would have hated him once he found out… but right now he felt happier than probably ever. He also couldn’t help himself and brushed his fingers against the bite marks on Jack’s neck, feeling him shiver lightly under his touch.

Everyone stayed for a few hours and it was a great time, but eventually the pizza was gone and so was the beer, and the majority of the humans were starting to yawn. Before Matty left (with James, Mac noted) she told them they had tomorrow off, but she expected them at work bright and early on Monday. And then everybody was gone except for Jack, and Mac was shutting and locking the door behind them before he went to find Jack, who was tossing beer bottles in the recycling. As much as Mac had been looking forward to being alone with him again, he was… nervous, somehow, because this wasn’t them relying on each other in the field, it was… real. And it was what he wanted, but he just didn’t want to fuck it up somehow.

So he waited for Jack to turn and face him, and then he smiled a little, maybe a tad uncertain, hands in the front pockets of his jeans. “Hey.”

“Hey, you,” Jack said, giving Mac one of these rare big smiles, and god, he was so gorgeous, why was he even interested in someone like Mac? Jack clearly noticed the uncertainty Mac was feeling on his face, because he squinted his eyes a little, a smile dimming as he tilted his head. Taking in Mac’s posture, Jack walked up to him and placed his hands on Mac’s hips, pulling him closer. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

Mac extracted his hands from his pockets and put them flat on Jack’s chest. He could feel solid muscle under the fabric of Jack’s shirt, the way his heart beat under his sternum. “I’m just thinking about all the ways I could fuck this up,” he replied, blunt and honest, one of his hands sliding up to cup Jack’s cheek. “I love you, Jack, I do… but I wasn’t exactly good at relationships before I got turned, let alone now. Why…” He bit his lower lip, gaze dropping to the vicinity of Jack’s chin. “You’re handsome and smart and funny, and you could have anybody in the world, human or vamp. Why… why would you pick me?”

Mac heard Jack sigh and then Jack stepped even closer, his arm circling Mac’s waist while he used his other hand to tilt Mac’s head up. “Mac, baby,” Jack started, his voice and eyes unbelievably soft. “You’re amazing. You’re literally a genius and the way you think… it’s extraordinary. You’re also the best person I know and there’s no one I trust more.” Jack moved his hand so that it was resting on Mac’s neck and he was rubbing his jaw with his thumb. “You’re also so gorgeous that it makes my head hurt sometimes. Why _wouldn’t _I pick you? You’re all I’ve wanted for years.” Mac blinked a few times, caught off guard by everything Jack had said and how… convinced he had sounded. Like he believed every word he had said. “And if I remember correctly, you weren’t the problem in those relationships.”

Mac swallowed hard and leaned in, pressing a soft kiss to Jack’s lips. He tried to come up with a way to respond to all that, one that was just as meaningful and heartfelt… and after a moment, he found it. “Call me Angus,” he said, sliding his arms around Jack’s neck. He blinked and licked his lips, watching Jack’s face for a reaction. “I mean, you can call me Angus if… if you want to. I’d like that.”

Jack’s eyes widened and his lips parted a little in shock. He searched Mac’s face for… something, and after a moment he leaned in, kissing the corner of his mouth. “You sure?” he asked quietly, and Mac just nodded with a small smile. “Alright, I can… I can do that,” Jack whispered before pulling Mac in a proper kiss, his hand sliding into his hair. Mac let himself sink into the sensation of kissing Jack, opening up instantly when Jack’s tongue licked over the seam of his lips, tightening his grip around Jack’s neck. They stood there like that for a moment, enjoying each other, before Mac pulled back – but only to take Jack’s hand and tug him toward his bedroom. He wasn’t playing around after last night, and he could see from the heat in Jack’s eyes that he wasn’t alone in that regard. He fell back on the bed and pulled Jack down on top of him, loving the weight of his body pinning him to the mattress, and even though Mac could easily toss him off… he didn’t want to, and that somehow made it feel even better. Jack’s lips were on his again for a moment before they wandered away, skimming over Mac’s cheek and his jaw before going lower, blunt human teeth scraping over the birthmark on his neck.

Mac shivered underneath him and moaned when Jack nipped on the delicate skin of his throat. He ran his hands up and down Jack’s back, fingers digging into his shoulder blades when Jack started sucking a bruise into his skin. He had to remember not to use too much of his strength and crush Jack, but for now he didn’t seem to complain even though Mac was definitely gripping him a bit harder than a human would have. He spread his legs a little so that Jack could settle between them comfortably, and he groaned when Jack rolled his hips down, their half-hard cocks grinding together. “Oh god, _Jack_,” he breathed out, scratching Jack’s back a little through his shirt.

The fabric needed to go, so Mac slid his hands down to Jack’s lower back and tugged at the hem of the shirt. Jack got the idea and leaned back to take it off, which gave Mac the opportunity to get rid of his own shirt. When Jack was back on top of him again the skin-on-skin contact felt incredible, and so did Jack’s mouth when it continued its trek down Mac’s body. He nipped at Mac’s collarbone before moving to suck a bruise right below it, Mac’s hands sliding lower to grope at Jack’s ass. Jack groaned against Mac’s skin before biting him harder, and there should have been something funny about a human biting a vampire, but Mac definitely didn’t feel like laughing. He gasped loudly, his hands squeezing Jack’s ass, and then Jack’s lips moved lower. He licked over one of Mac’s nipples before licking and biting his way down Mac’s chest and abs, sucking a bruise into Mac’s rib cage.

Mac squeezed his eyes shut and when he opened them again he knew they had gone black, his field of vision suddenly much sharper and wider. His breathing was shaky and uneven as Jack’s lips moved lower still, kissing Mac’s hipbone before his fingers landed on the already-straining button and zipper of Mac’s jeans, those warm brown eyes looking up at him with a wordless question. “Yes, Jack – you don’t have to ask,” Mac breathed, moving one of his trembling hands to touch Jack’s face lightly. Those rough fingers had his pants undone and pushed down along with his underwear in record time, and then Jack’s fingers were wrapping around his cock. Jack stroked him a few times before giving Mac’s cock a long lick and taking the head into his mouth to suck on it. Mac gasped loudly, hands twisting in the bedsheets on either side of his hips. Apparently Jack’s plan was to drive him crazy, because after a moment he removed his fingers from Mac’s cock and took him all in in one swift motion, and Mac couldn’t help but cry out a little. He felt his gums itch, but he forced his fangs to stay hidden – while black eyes might not have bothered Jack, Mac was afraid his fangs might. His hips twitched a little when Jack started bobbing his head up and down, but Jack didn’t seem to mind, relaxing his throat and swallowing around Mac’s cock.

Mac had to work hard to keep his hips somewhere near the mattress, because the heat and tightness of Jack’s throat felt heavenly around his cock and his body wanted to thrust up and take. That wasn’t a good idea, though, because he could have seriously hurt Jack if he had done that too hard, and that was the last thing he was going to do. That meant his control slipped in the fangs department, and they dropped down out of his gums. “Oh god, Jack, that feels so good,” he said, moaning when Jack’s tongue did something clever and toe-curling on his next trip down his cock. He reached down with one hand and put it on Jack’s shoulder, squeezing to get his attention. “It’s too good, babe – you should get back up here.”

Jack gave his cock a parting lick before kissing his way up, a satisfied smirk playing on his lips. A smirk that… widened when Jack reached Mac’s face and noticed his eyes and fangs. “Hello, gorgeous,” he muttered, leaning down to kiss the corner of Mac’s mouth, careful to avoid getting jabbed by his fangs. “So, baby,” he started, his voice low and warm as Jack trailed his lips to Mac’s ear. “What do you wanna do?”

Mac wriggled out of his pants and underwear completely, kicking them away. He got his hands in between their bodies to toy with Jack’s belt buckle, and forced himself to think about Jack’s question. “Want you to fuck me,” he said, lips twitching up in a smile when those five words made Jack’s hips twitch forward involuntarily. “Guess I don’t have to convince you, huh?”

Jack exhaled shakily against Mac’s ear and leaned back to look down at him. His eyes were almost black with lust and there was so much hunger in them that it made Mac shiver. “You sure about this?” Jack asked, and in response Mac just nodded with a smile, quickly unbuckling Jack’s belt and undoing his jeans. Jack helped him a little to take them off along with his underwear, and Mac groaned when Jack rolled his hips again, their cocks brushing together without the material of their pants between them.

Forcing himself to think, Mac reached for his nightstand and grabbed the condoms and lube from the drawer, handing the latter to Jack. “Please, Jack.”

Technically Mac’s healing factor meant he could have just let Jack fuck him now, but there were two issues with that: one, Jack would have never gone for that, and two, Mac wanted this to feel as good for both of them as it possibly could. Jack coated his fingers in lube and a moment later he was rubbing the pad of one in light circles around Mac’s entrance while he mouthed at his jaw. “You know you have a little lisp when your fangs are out?” Jack asked, sliding that finger inside Mac, meeting little resistance. “It’s cute.”

Mac felt himself blush at that and he whined in protest, because he couldn’t see how that would be cute, but the sound quickly morphed into a long moan when Jack started moving his finger back and forth. It wasn’t long before Jack added a second finger and spread them a little, and Mac rolled his hips, pushing against those fingers as much as he could. “Jesus, look at you, baby, you’re so beautiful,” Jack murmured against Mac’s jaw, pushing in his fingers deeper, and Mac cried out when they nudged his prostate.

Mac wrapped his arms around Jack’s shoulders, fingers digging into his muscles. A third finger joined the first two inside him, pushing and stretching him in all the right ways, nudging his prostate again and making him roll his hips down against the friction they made. “You can… mhmm, you can fuck me now, Jack, I can take it,” he said, and let out a groan when Jack’s teeth scraped over one of the bruises he had left behind on his neck. With one last nudge against his prostate Jack withdrew his fingers, kissing Mac’s neck, jaw and his cheek before pressing a gentle kiss to his lips. Mac’s breathing was harsh and uneven, and his heart was fluttering, almost bursting with how much he loved Jack. Jack who didn’t care that he was a vamp, who liked his black eyes and who kissed him without hesitation even when his fangs were out. “I’m… do you want a condom?” Mac gasped out once Jack pulled back. “I mean… it’s not really necessary with the vamp thing, but if you’re not comfortable-“

Jack kissed him again, soft and sweet. “I’m good, darlin’. It’s like I told you before, I trust you.” And Mac… Mac might start crying soon if Jack kept this up, and that would make things a little awkward. He hooked a leg over Jack’s waist to pull him even closer, gasping when the head of his cock nudged against Mac’s hole. Jack brought a hand down so he could guide himself inside Mac, and Mac moaned out an unsteady version of Jack’s name at the feeling of Jack filling him up, the pressure inside his body making him clench down involuntarily around Jack’s cock. “You feel so good, baby,” Jack groaned, burying his face in Mac’s shoulder, breathing in and out a few times before he rolled his hips experimentally, gently at first. Mac gasped and wrapped his arms around Jack’s shoulders, fingers digging into his back when Jack’s hips snapped a little harder. After a moment Jack set up a steady pace, pushing inside Mac with deep and smooth thrusts, and Mac cried out, throwing his head back when Jack’s cock hit his prostate.

Mac had never felt this good in his life, and he didn’t know if it was some kind of heightened sensitivity because he was a vampire or if it was because Jack was the one fucking him, or both. Whatever it was, he only moaned louder when Jack started angling for his prostate with every rough snap of his hips, and he brought his other leg up around Jack’s waist to join the first. His nails scratched at the skin of Jack’s back, and he made a wounded sound when Jack grabbed his arms and pinned his wrists down on either side of his head.

He could easily break the hold, but he didn’t, and he let Jack hold him down, surrendering himself to him completely. Jack’s thrusts started getting even harder and more brutal, and Mac was helpless to do anything else but moan with every slam of Jack’s hips, crying out and whimpering when Jack thrusted into him particularly rough and deep. At one point Jack lifted his head to lock his gaze with Mac’s, his hips not slowing down, and whatever he saw on Mac’s face made him whimper and bury his face back in Mac’s shoulder as he was pounding into him so hard that every thrust would have moved Mac up on the bed if he hadn’t been pinned down by his wrists. “Come on, Angus.” Jack’s raspy voice sounded in his ear. “You’re so good for me, let go, baby.”

Those words were all it took to make Mac come with a scream, arching into the pleasure as it exploded through his whole body. What happened next… kind of happened without conscious thought on Mac’s part. He pushed up against Jack’s hold and broke it easily, then gripping Jack’s shoulders and flipped them over so he was straddling Jack’s hips. He impaled himself on Jack’s still-hard cock and rocked his hips hard, a back-and-forth gyration combined with all his muscles squeezing Jack so hard it might have been painful. He leaned down and nosed at Jack’s jaw, then his neck, practically drooling at how fast his pulse was and how good he smelled.

Jack was groaning underneath him, thrusting up into him, and before Mac knew what he was doing he sank his fangs into Jack’s neck. At the same time he grabbed Jack’s wrists and pinned them down on the mattress and Jack cried out, arching under him as Mac started drinking his blood. The way Jack smelled was intoxicating and his blood was delicious, and Mac felt dizzy with how good it tasted and how good it all felt. He kept rolling his hips down hard, meeting Jack’s hips that were twitching with way less force than before. When he slammed himself down particularly hard, Jack let out a scream and pressed up against Mac’s hold, but Mac just pinned him back down with a growl, pulling his fangs out only to bite Jack again.

“Oh, Angus, baby, I’m- I’m gonna-“ Jack’s voice cracked, his while body shaking underneath Mac’s weight, and Mac squeezed his wrists and lifted his head to bite Jack a third time. He timed it so that it happened at the same moment he slammed his hips down again and twisted them, and Jack fell over the edge with a broken cry. He flooded Mac’s insides with come, warm and sticky where it started to leak out around his softening cock, and Mac licked over the marks he had left behind before he collapsed on top of Jack. He left his fingers wrapped around Jack’s wrists, but loosened his grip, and he was so blissed out he couldn’t even lick off the blood dripping down his chin.

Jack was panting underneath him and Mac could hear how his heart was racing. He didn’t move, his arms still stretched on the mattress near his head, but he also wasn’t pushing Mac off of him, so Mac figured he didn’t mind his weight on top of him. After a moment Mac nuzzled Jack’s neck, belatedly realizing he was staining his skin with blood from his chin, so he licked it of him, moaning at how good it tasted. Once that was done, he went back to nuzzling Jack’s neck, breathing in his amazing smell. “Jack,” he whispered against his skin after a moment when Jack still didn’t move or say anything. “Are you okay?”

Jack’s arms slid out from under Mac’s hands, but only so he could wrap them around Mac and squeeze him. He pressed his face against Mac’s hair, kissing his temple a moment later. “Just trying to figure out how to use words again,” he said. “Pretty sure that knocked about half the languages I know outta my brain.” One of his hands came up to card through Mac’s hair. “I love you, Angus, so damn much.”

Mac exhaled in relief, snuggling deeper into Jack’s embrace. “I love you too, Jack,” he said quietly, pressing a kiss to Jack’s jaw before pushing himself up a little so that he could kiss Jack’s lips. It was a short, sweet kiss, and once Mac pulled back he looked down at Jack, brushing his fingers against his stubble. “You sure you’re okay?” he asked softly, his fingers sliding lower to press lightly against the bite marks. “I know I should’ve… I should’ve asked before I bit you, but I kinda… lost it.”

Jack smiled up at him, a fond one that made his eyes crinkle at the corners. “It’s okay, baby,” he said, fingers dropping lower to massage the back of Mac’s neck. “I knew what you were gonna do before you did it. You make these little sounds, which is just as cute as the lisp. Plus, I… I liked it.”

There was nothing but sincerity in Jack’s eyes and Mac felt all the tension melt out of him. He kissed Jack’s cheek before lying back on top of him, cuddling up as close as he could. “I- I’m not making- what kind of sounds?” he asked after a moment, feeling his cheeks turn red, a tiny pouting note to his voice. Every time he had bitten Jack he had been so focused on that that he hadn’t even noticed anything and he just hoped it wasn’t too embarrassing like the damn lisp.

Jack ran his hand up and down Mac’s spine, his other arm tight around his waist. They were starting to stick together thanks to the drying come, but neither of them was inclined to move. “Like little… I don’t know, snarls and grunts and stuff? Obviously you didn’t know you were doing it, but like I said, it’s cute.” He kissed Mac’s forehead and spoke his next words softly against Mac’s skin: “I don’t want to see you change a thing, darlin’, including the spontaneous biting.”

Mac shivered a little, because Jack was basically giving him the green light to bite him during sex whenever he pleased, and that kind of trust… it blew Mac’s mind. “I love you so much,” he whispered, his fingers touching the bite marks again. He couldn’t help it, for some reason he was fascinated by the already healing tiny puncture marks. “Does it… do they hurt?” he asked curiously after a moment. “And when I… when I bite you… is it… painful?” He had been wondering about that since he had no idea how it actually felt – he didn’t remember being turned and even if he had, he was sure getting bitten by Murdoc couldn’t have been pleasant at all.

Jack thought about it for a minute, his hand keeping up its rhythm against Mac’s skin, the sensation so soothing it was almost hypnotic. “Right now it hurts a little,” he admitted. “Like a bruise, I guess? But when you bite me…I think there’s something in your saliva that numbs the skin, so I can _feel_ you biting me, but it doesn’t hurt, if that makes sense. And the sensation of getting fed on is… really something.”

“Mhmm, it must be judging by the sounds you make when I feed on you,” Mac teased, kissing Jack’s neck and chuckling when he saw Jack blush. He also breathed out in relief because the last thing he wanted was to cause Jack any pain, so he was glad it didn’t hurt him. “It sure as hell feels amazing for me.”

“I’m glad,” Jack rumbled against his hair. “You know, I’ve got no idea how many times you can feed on a person in a day without side effects… but if you really hate the taste of cold blood, I don’t mind being a snack every once in a while.” The hand on Mac’s back trailed a little lower, running over one of his ass cheeks. “Also wouldn’t mind you fucking me with that vamp strength of yours.”

Mac choked on his saliva against Jack’s neck where he had been sniffing him, minding his own business until Jack had dropped that bomb. He looked up, staring at Jack with wide eyes, waiting for his brain to reboot and start working again. “You…” he said, swallowing hard. “You’d like that?” he asked, his throat suddenly dry. The fantasies he had been pushing away came back to him with full force and he had to blink a few times to snap out of it. “I’m… I wouldn’t mind that either,” he stuttered out once Jack nodded with a small smirk on his lips.

Jack raised an eyebrow and looked at him critically. “What, did you think I’d have a problem getting plowed by my gorgeous boyfriend?” he asked, which only served to make Mac choke again, so Jack laughed and rolled them over so he was on top, blanketing Mac with his body and smacking a kiss to his cheek before he cuddled in close like he never wanted to let Mac go… and hopefully he never would.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a comment if you enjoyed it! ♥
> 
> (Also... stay tuned for the sequel.)


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